Painful Past
by RD22
Summary: Not all prides are like that of the Pride Lands, and Angani's story shows just how lucky she is to live there now. A canon spinoff series to my (kora22) main series.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Hey there everyone! I'm happy to say I'll be introducing this side series of stories. They could be anything but most will focus on the backgrounds of some of my characters. And they are all completely canon to my main series!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: The Announcement<strong>

"Angani! Get up!"

Angani, the young, gray lioness cub, just grunted and rolled over in response to her name. It was too early for her.

"Angani... Now," her father, Bezo, said once more, "you don't want me to _make _you get up, do you?"

Angani sighed and sat up. Her father was right about that. The last thing she wanted was one of his wake up calls again... Especially after the last time he did it. She yawned and looked up at him.

"Why do I have to get up this early?" She asked.

"There's a very important announcement the king has for the pride today," he explained, "and it's important that everyone is there, especially you."

"Why?" She asked.

Her father gritted his teeth. "Don't question me, just get moving... If you make us late, you're in trouble."

Angani stood up and walked outside her family's small den. Her pride had many small dens due to it's unique landscape. There were enough for all the families to have their own living space. Outside, the landscape was very hilly. The hills were all made of stone with caverns carved into the sides. On the tops of the stone hills, grass and other plant life grew. It was a very beautiful location.

Angani and her father soon arrived to the center of the pride's den area. There, Angani's mother, Kofi, was already waiting, as were all the other members of the pride. She and her parents then made their way through the crowd of lions and lionesses. At the front of the group stood a lion, lioness, and a male cub. They happened to be the king, queen, and prince.

"What are we doing?" Angani asked her mother.

"Hush!" Her mother spat. "Do not speak here unless you are spoken to, understand?"

Angani sighed. "Yes..."

"You stand next to him," her father said as he pushed her toward the cub. "We'll be behind you."

Once they were in their positions, the pride's king stepped forward.

"Now that our most important guest has arrived, I have a very special announcement for you all," the king said. "After speaking with both Bezo and Kifo recently, we have come to the mutual decision that their daughter, Angani, will be betrothed to my son, Prince Mako."

Angani's eyes widened and her heart started racing. Had she heard that right? _She _was being betrothed to the pride's prince? Why her, of all the other female cubs in the pride?

"So, looks like you're mine now, doesn't it?" Mako said, wrapping a paw around her. "Don't worry, you'll love me."

Angani didn't say anything. She only had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her parents hadn't said a word to her, not that she would have expected them to. She didn't know why she had been chosen to marry the prince, but she knew one thing for sure: She wasn't in love with him.

* * *

><p>Later that night back in her den, Angani spoke up.<p>

"I'm not marrying him," she said flatly.

"What was that?" Bezo asked sternly.

"I said I'm not marrying him," Angani said, "I don't love him."

Her father's short temper was starting to show. "I don't care if you _hate _him," he told her, "you're marrying him, end of story. Your mother and I worked hard to make sure you were going to be chosen as the future queen, and you're not going to ruin it! You better get used to it, because starting tomorrow, you'll be spending a lot of time with the prince."

"No," Angani said, "I'm not doing it. You can't tell me who t-"

_Whack!_

Angani's father struck her, sending her crashing against the wall of the den. The back of her head bounced off the wall, causing her to become dizzy. She tried to stand back up, but collapsed immediately. She heard one last thing from her father before she blacked out.

"Maybe next time you won't talk back to me..."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Angani woke up with a pounding headache. Her vision was a little blurry, but it was slowly wearing off. It took her a minute to remember what had happened, but it quickly came back to her. Her father had hit her, again... Nothing new. She slowly walked outside as the sunlight intensified her headache, making her groan in pain. She had to go find Mako, as much as she didn't want to... But if her father hit her like that again she might never get over it. She decided it was best to keep him happy today.<p>

It didn't take her long to come across Mako. He was laying by the pride's water hole, waiting for her no doubt. She walked up to him.

"It's about time you showed up," he told her, "when you're queen, you're gonna have to learn not to be late. It'll look bad on me."

"Oh, well sorry," she said sarcastically. "My dad hit me last night and I blacked out. It's not my fault."

"Well, next time don't do something to deserve it," Mako said, "it's not that hard."

That made Angani tense up, but she held her tongue.

"Now," he said, "what you say we get to know each other a little?"

"Yeah..." she replied, "Whatever..."

Angani laid down in front of him as he began talking about himself. She could tell she was in for a long, long day.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So, let me know what you thought of that in the review section! There will be more to come. As you can see, Angani's pride wasn't exactly the most loyal one out there...


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Since I'm feeling inspiration for this story, I thought I'd update this again.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two: The Outsider<strong>

After listening to Mako for the last three hours drone on about how great he is, Angani finally made up an excuse to go off on her own for awhile, though he told her to be back soon.

_I can't believe I'm betrothed to that narcissistic jerk... _Angani thought to herself as she walked along the border of the den area. She was so caught up in what had happened in the past twenty-four hours, she didn't see the cub in front of her.

_Oof!_

"Hey, watch it!" Angani said angrily, standing up off the ground, shaking the dirt from her fur.

"Oh, s-sorry..." the other cub said.

When Angani finally saw her, she couldn't believe her eyes. The cub in front of her was a girl. She had a light golden coat and pretty blue eyes.

"Oh... Um, it's okay," Angani answered calmly, "I wasn't paying attention..."

"Hey... Aren't you the new princess?" The cub asked.

"Ugh... Don't even call me that... The prince is a jerk," Angani told her. "Wait, who are you anyway? I've never seen you before."

"Oh... Um..." The cub hesitated. "I'm, uh... Mkali... I'm not from around here. I've been on my own lately. I was abandoned a few weeks ago. I've been lingering around here and happened to see what went on yesterday. Nobody has seen me yet."

"Oh," Angani said, "well, this pride doesn't take too well to outsiders. Cub or adult, you have to be careful.

"Right..." Mkali said. "Well, they haven't seen me yet."

"Angani!" They heard Mako yell in the distance. "Get back here!"

Angani sighed. "My prince calls... I have to go. You be careful. You seem nice, I'd hate it if any of these jerks found you."

"Don't worry," Mkali assured her. "I'll be fine."

"You're one of the friendliest faces around here," Angani added before walking away. "I'll come find you again."

* * *

><p>"Angani..." Mako said as his princess walked back up to him. "What took you so long? I said five minutes, not an hour."<p>

"I just wanted to be alone," Angani said, "you don't own me, Mako. I can have time to myself."

"Listen!" Mako growled as he grabbed her leg and jerked her close to him. "I _do _own you now. You are _mine_. You know the pride's rules!"

Angani ripped her leg from him and backed away. There were trickles of blood in her fur from his claws sinking into her.

"Ow..." She said quietly."

Mako rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, get over it... Now come on, this royal mouth demands some royal kissing."

Angani thought she was gonna puke, but he obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"This next hour is gonna be great!" Mako said excitedly.

"Yep..." Angani said. "A real blast..."

* * *

><p>"Ugh..." Angani shuddered as she once again was walking on the perimeter of the territory. "I don't think I'll ever get the taste of his tongue out of my mouth..."<p>

Much against her idea of a good time, Mako had dragged her into a make-out session. Now that it was finally over, she wanted to try and find that cub, Mkali, that she had met earlier. She may have only talked with her for a few minutes, but it was obvious she had a better personality than anybody else around her.

"Mkali?" Angani said. "You out here?"

"Turn around."

Angani spun around and there stood Mkali. "How long have you been behind me?"

"Oh, long enough," Mkali giggled. "You seemed lost in thought."

"Heh... I guess..." Angani replied. _Damn, she has a cute laugh... _She thought to herself.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Mkali asked.

"Oh... Just looking for you," Angani answered. "It looks like it's going to rain, you gonna be alright out here?"

"I'll be fine," Mkali told her, "I found an unused cave not too far from here. Not too big, but it's good enough. Come on, I'll show you."

Angani followed her without hesitation. Anything that kept her away from her parents or Mako was fine with her.

* * *

><p>After a short walk, the two cubs came upon a small cave. It was just big enough for both of them to fit into.<p>

"Not much," Mkali said, "but I can't be picky at this point."

"Yeah, it looks ni-"

_Kaboom!_

"Eeep!" Mkali jumped as a crack of lightning split the sky. At almost the same moment the rain started. It was a torrential downpour in seconds.

"Well, looks like I'm stuck here awhile," Angani said. "No way I'm going out there."

"No problem, stay as long as you want," Mkali said. "I'm just gonna get some sleep, I've been tired all day."

"A nap sounds nice right about now..." Angani said. Especially after dealing with the entitled prince all day... Yeah, a short nap won't hurt."

The two cubs laid down and shut their eyes, the rumbling sky and the sound of the rain lulling them to sleep.

* * *

><p>When Angani opened her eyes, she found herself nose to nose with Mkali and her paws wrapped around her. Mkali was already awake looking at her. Angani shot up to a sitting position, blushing intensely.<p>

"You cuddle in your sleep," Mkali laughed.

Angani fumbled for her words. "S-sorry... I-I um..."

"It's okay," Mkali laughed again, "I think it's cute. Pleasant thing to wake up to in the morning."

Angani's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"It's a pleasant thing to wake up to in the morning," Mkali repeated.

"Morning!?" Angani exclaimed. "Oh, no... I'm dead..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Looks like we have a friendship blossoming here... Along with Mako's ego, but it's not like it can get much bigger... Or can it? Eh, who knows?<strong>


End file.
